I thank the Lord Jesus Christ for the talent He has bestowed on all of us!
I have been artistic all of my life and love experimenting with different mediums and techniques. This blog is my creative outlet to share my passion for cardmaking and papercrafting!

I decided to focus on some of the colors versus the birthday theme and chose to ink up my Friends Never Fade stamp set.

This card utilizes the emboss resist technique on the new Blushing Bride Hostess Level I Designer Paper. I stamped the floral image from the set with Versamark ink first, then directly into Cajun Craze before applying the Clear EP.

Using a sponge dauber, I applied additional Blushing Bride ink onto the embossed images to soften the design on the DP and before running the Blushing Bride Cardstock through the Big Shot, I sprayed the cardstock with alcohol (70%) to achieve a deeper impression.

I only had the larger SU! pearls left (my new order will arrive on Wed) so I may replace these pearls with the 3mm size.The ribbon is from my stash and matches the Cajun Craze ink perfectly.

I know that I will be very busy this week getting ready for a workshop, my niece's 15th birthday and stamping with my Awana 5th & 6th Grade girls, so I decided to make one more card using the PPA61 sketch challenge (see http://www.palspaperarts.com/ ). I can always take a nap tomorrow after church :-).

I used the emboss resist technique along with sponge daubers with Early Espresso, Riding Hood Red and Pumpkin Pie.

The second card uses the same set but instead of emboss resist, I punched the Very Vanilla circle out with the new 2 ½” XL Circle punch, sponged the colors with the sponge daubers and then stamped the Upsy Daisy in Early Espresso.

I used the new embossing folder, Elegant Lines, and half of a previously embossed Top Note die cut and some more of that luscious Early Espresso Satin Ribbon.

Even though these colors are so soft and pastel (they would make a great baby card- I see another project on the horizon:-) , I decided to try a masking technique with sponge daubers and the Upsy Daisy set.

I wanted to make a very quick card so I did not add a lot of details.The Blushing Bride layer was embossed with the Finial Press EF, but before embossing I used the brayer to ink up the inside top layer of the embossing folder with Marina Mist.

I just love this sketch- you can create a quick card for any occasion.

I decided to use one of my favorite sets from the Spanish catalog Flores Suaves along with the En Francais background stamp.

I generally use the butterfly image since it is so pretty but decided to go with the bee stamp (isn’t he cute?).In real life, I am a bit afraid of bees (I am allergic to bee stings) but when it comes to stamping, I think the realistic bee images are beautiful:-)

I decided to use the Pink Pirouette marker to color the bee for contrast and of course had to use the Big Shot with an embossing folder.

I am currently out of the new pearls :-( (they are due in this week) and most likely will add some of the small pearls to the border area.

The first card followed the sketch as it was designed and then I thought that I might add the floral image to the left of the bees.

Which one do you like better?

I have not attached the floral image yet, just tucked behind the ribbon.I will let you decide which way the final card will appear.

This card is a very simple card to recreate and to me qualifies as Clean and Simple (CAS).I stamped the small medallion circle from Charming in Baja Breeze on Whisper White and using a sponge dauber applied Crajun Craze to the center.

I used the 1¼” to punch out the stamped image, 1⅜” for the Cajun Craze and 1½” circle punch for the Baja Breeze layer.The Wild Wasabi DP was embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper EF in the Big Shot and sanded with the Sanding Block to expose the white core.

The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes and stamped with Cajun Craze.The Word Window, Modern Label, Medium Oval Punches for the sentiment embellishment and added another medallion circle.

The ribbon is from my stash and matches the Cajun Craze perfectly.Sprayed the overall card with Frost White Shimmer Paint and topped off with a few of the new pearls.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

When creating the first card with the APP#15- Ann’s Color Challenge from The Paper Players ( http://www.thepaperplayers.blogspot.com/ - see post below), I had originally created another embellishment and was not pleased with the result.

First, I brayered a light layer of More Mustard onto a Whisper White Oval die cut.I then stamped the small round floral image from Just Believe in Early Espresso.The inked image was not as dark as I had wanted, so I after completing the first card, I decided to try to improve this first attempt.

I used SU! Markers in Old Olive to color the leaves and Early Espresso to darken the area in the background (trying to stay within the stamped image- not an easy task with a circle) :-)

After using the markers, I sponged the edges with More Mustard, Cajun Craze and Early Espresso.I layered this oval onto another embossed oval die cut in Early Espresso and attached the 5/8” Old Olive Satin Ribbon.

Again, I had a previously embossed Square Lattice More Mustard piece in my "stash" and used the Scallop Trim Punch on the Old Olive layer.I added the pearls and the sentiment is from Sincere Salutations.

The sketch is a modified version of SSC169 (Stamping 411 with the Operators) as well.

Thanks again for checking out my blog- I am so thankful for all of you!

I just love the colors for the APP#15- Ann’s Color Challenge from The Paper Players this week- see http://www.thepaperplayers.blogspot.com/ for more details and to see all of the wonderful example from the Design Team and other participants.

Old Olive, More Mustard, Early Espresso, Cajun Craze and Whisper White or Very Vanilla were the colors chosen from the inspiration photo by the fabulous Ann Schach!

I love the floral images in the new stamp set, Just Believe and colored the main floral image with SU! Markers. I stamped this on an oval piece of Whisper White that was already cut from the Ovals Die. Using a sponge dauber, I sponged the edges and also sponged lightly over the image to tone down the Whisper White. Using the Color Spritzer tool, "spritzed" the oval die cut with an Early Espresso marker.

I used a previously embossed piece of Early Espresso and punched a circle with the new XL 2 1/2" Circle Punch, cut this in half and layered behind the oval.

Stamp Sets: Just Believe, Notably Ornate

Cardstock: Crajun Craze, More Mustard DP, Early Espresso, Old Olive and Whisper White

Friday, September 17, 2010

Thank you so much for your encouraging comments and for those of you who have chosen to follow my blog- I truly feel so honored.

Generally I will ink the entire stamp in the lightest ink first (in this example Crumb Cake), then using a sponge dauber apply the next darkest ink directly to the stamp (Always Artichoke) around the leaves in the middle area of the medallion. The next step would be to use another sponge dauber and apply the darkest ink around the outside edge and sporadically over the other colors (Early Espresso).

After applying the ink onto the stamp with the sponge daubers, I will "huff" on the stamp to re-moisten the ink and stamp directly onto Whisper White. After stamping, I cut out the medallion around the edges and then using the sponge dauber again with Crumb Cake, lightly "daub" (is this a word?) over some of the white areas to tone down the white. After "antiquing" to my satisfaction, I daubed Early Espresso on the edges to give it more contrast and to cover some of the white from the cut-out process.

On this particular example, I finished it off by spraying with the Frost White Shimmer Paint Mist (Shimmer Paint mixed with 70% alcohol to create the spray), then adhered it to another piece of Whisper White, cut out around edges and then adhered it to Early Espresso to create the layers. I just had to add the pearl (I love our new pearls) and mounted to the card with dimensionals :-)

Thanks again for your thoughtfulness to leave comments- you have truly made me feel very honored and blessed!

Even though we may not ever have a chance to meet in person, I consider all of you my new "stamping" friends! Have a great weekend and God Bless!

When I first looked at the colors this week, I immediately thought of Lovely as A Tree and the new set Day of Gratitude.

Lovely As A Tree is such a classic set and even though it has been around for awhile, I tend to turn to it quite often (especially for masculine cards).

Also I have decided to start using all of the current sets that I own – even if they are not new to the 2010-2011 catalog.Why buy stamp sets if you do not use them?

The first card I created also uses the new Decorative Label XL Punch with the medallion from Day of Gratitude and Sincere Saluations for the sentiment.I also had a scrap piece of Always Artichoke already embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper EF and topped it off with the Early Espresso ribbon.I decided not to add the three brads that were in the sketch, I felt that the three trees in the background would be a great substitute.

The second card utilizes the same medallion from Day of Gratitude, the new Vintage Wallpaper EF, pearls, Whisper White ribbon and the piece of Always Artichoke was already embossed with the Texture Plate (love being able to pull things from my stash) and just sponged both of the embossed pieces with Early Espresso.

The third card uses the same colors but I wanted to use the oak tree from the set.I hardly ever use the oak tree- I think it is beautiful, but I tend to stamp the large pine or the tree border.Again, I wanted to update the look of this set with new accessories- the Vintage Wallpaper EF, Scallop Trim Border Punch and Early Espresso Ribbon.I also used the Medallion Background stamp (center portion) on the label and background behind the tree.Sponged and distressed the embossing and images to complete the look.

Thanks again for visiting- I love to read your comments!You are such an encouragement to me and I thank the Lord for all of you!

The first card utilizes the technique called “Rock –n- Roll” with Upsy Daisy, along with some of my "old" favorite tools.

I stamped the scroll design from Friends 24-7 in Peach Parfait on a piece of the Pear Pizzazz DP (from the 2010 In colors Hostess Pack). After stamping the Upsy Daisy stamp in Peach Parfait, I rolled the edges with Concord Crush- also sponged a bit of Concord Crush with a sponge dauber for dimension.

Tore the edge with The Tearing Edge™, sponged all the edges with Concord Crush and added a torn edge of Pear Pizzazz. Mounted this entire layer on a piece of Concord Crush DP (from the same Hostess Pack).

Using the Color Spritzer Tool with the Pear Pizzazz and Peach Parfait markers, I “spritzed” the background area and for the final step, sprayed with Frost White Shimmer Paint mist.

I used the Crimper Tool with a small piece of Pear Pizzazz, layered it with the new Victoria Crochet Trim along with one of the new Antique Brads for the bottom layer piece. Stamped the sentiment from Herbal Expressions (I love the expressions in this set) and “huffed” on the previously inked scroll stamp from Friends 24-7. I used the Large Oval punch, sponged the edges with Concord Crush and added a few pearls in the corner for the final touch- I just love those pearls:-).

bird image in Concord Crush and the same scroll stamp in Peach Parfait. I had also already distressed the edges with the 5-in-1 Tool, sponged and “spritzed” as described above.

I already had the embossed Peach Parfait and Pear Pizzazz layers on hand (used the Vintage Wallpaper EF) and sprayed with the Frost White Shimmer Paint Mist from a previous card. I cut a piece of Concord Crush and punched the edge with the Scallop Trim Border Punch, added the Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon and of course, more pearls:-)

I used the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes in Concord Crush and punched it out with the new XL Decorative Label Punch. Sponged the edges with Concord Crush and stamped the same scroll over the sentiment. Using the Large Oval Punch (from a piece of embossed Concord Crush) underneath the sentiment and layered the entire card front onto Concord Crush.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

As I mentioned in the previous post, I had a portion of the main medallion image left over so I decided to go ahead and make a card using this “cut-out”. Since this piece was already stamped with the PPA59 Challenge colors, this card came together rather quickly.

I decided to incorporate the sketch from Stamping 411 with the Operators #SSC168 along with other pieces that were already embossed from previous projects- see http://www.stamping411.blogspot.com for more details on the sketch challenge.

I love the sentiment that comes with Day of Gratitude (have I mentioned often enough how much I love this set?) so I decided to stamp this for the center sentiment and using the medallion as a background.

Although it appears otherwise, I mounted the greeting under the previously cut out piece from the medallion image and mounted this onto the layered the Old Olive and Tempting Turquoise with the retired So Saffron Ribbon and the three of the new pearls.

Stamp Sets: Day of Gratitude

Cardstock: Old Olive, So Saffron, Tempting Turquoise and Whisper White

You will need to check out this week’s challenge at Pals Paper Arts PPA59 http://www.palspaperarts.com – I just noticed that they are now offering some blog candy:-)

I have not had a chance to make a card with the exclusive SU! Bigz Lattice Die lately and as I contemplated the layout of the design, I had a feeling that the points on the main stamp image from Day of Gratitude would match perfectly to two layered Lattice die cuts, and to my amazement, they did!

The above photo shows a close-up of the medallion and the points of the Lattice Die. I knew that the two rotated Lattice Die cut-outs would be wider than the average card size of 4 ¼” x 5 ½”, so I decided to create a 6x6 card front that could be used either as a card or a scrapbook page.

Utilizing the sponge dauber technique to color the medallion image from the stamp set, I stamped two images- one for the background layer and another to punch out the center with the 1 3/4” circle punch (this left a cute floral image that I hope to incorporate into another card). After sponging the edges of both layers, I inserted one of the new Glimmer Brights Brads into the circle layer and attached the circle with SU! Dimensionals to the main medallion image (lining up the images). I used SU! Dimensionals again to layer the stamped images onto the Lattice Die cutouts – of course, I wanted to line up the points of the medallion to the points on the Lattice Die.

I layered this onto an embossed layer of Tempting Turquoise and using the Eyelet Border Punch, created a lace border along the bottom edge. I was hesitant to invest into the Satin Ribbon (I have such a large stash of ribbon) but since I have taken the leap- I just love it! I decided to use my new 5/8” Old Olive Satin Ribbon and the sentiment was created with the new XL Decorative Label Punch.

Stamp Sets: Day of Gratitude

Cardstock: Old Olive, So Saffron, Tempting Turquoise and Whisper White

This card was created for the Stamping 411 Color Challenge #139 (see http://www.stamping411.blogspot.com for more details) using the Splitcoast Sketch Challenge #SC297.

I decided to use the Day of Gratitude stamp set (Holiday Mini) and the Emboss Resist technique.

On Whisper White cardstock, I used several brayers to create the background prior to embossing the image with Versamark and Clear EP. Using sponge daubers with Bashful Blue, Pacific Point and Basic Gray rub color over the embossed areas to intensify the color around the image. Finished off the card with Frost White Shimmer Paint, Satin Ribbon and a Pearl.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

I decided to make another card this evening since I most likely will not have time to stamp tomorrow evening.

I absolutely love the color choices this week's ColourQ Challenge #49- see http://colourq.blogspot.com for more details.

I will most likely make another card for this challenge but my first card is using a stamp set that has been somewhat neglected- Razzle Dazzle. I like the main image but at times find it difficult to think of ways to use it – it reminds me of Pennsylvania Dutch artwork so I thought that these colors may work well together with this main image in this set.

I inked the entire floral image with Marina Mist and then using sponge daubers, “pounced” Soft Suede, Night of Navy and Pacific Point around the image in various areas. I stamped this main image onto Whisper White- I love to see the blended colors with this technique.

I punched the main image out with the XL 2 ½” circle punch and used a circle cutter to cut the Pacific Point and Marina Mist circles. I feel that I always need to use an Embossing Folder (what did we ever do without our Big Shot?) and I used the Finial Press EF folder on the Whisper White and Soft Suede background layers.

Finished off with 5/8” Night of Navy Satin Ribbon and the sentiment from Watercolor Trio stamped in Night of Navy and layered on a Marina Mist Scallop Oval. The first photo is without pearls and since it seems that I can not make a card without pearls anymore, I added them and took another photo.

Here's the one without the pearls-

Which one do you like better?

UPDATE- What an honor- this card was chosen as one of the Courtiers! Thank you for all of your kind comments and encouragement!

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